Earn Digital Attention Through Engaging Content

By Rainer Sommer

Content Marketing is the new catch phrase of the marketing industry. Slogans do not work anymore. Rather it is much more about gaining attention by telling stimulating, funny, emotional stories with impressive content and at the same time to arouse interest in buying. Social media makes this possible, but it should be well-planned and calculated.

Multi-Channel ChallengeThe social media channels available for marketing are as different as the people who use them. Each platform has its own characteristics that must be considered when developing content. Nevertheless, it is important to stay consistently true to the image and to convey a consistent message. Whether an image, a video or a text is spread, the recognition value shouldn’t get lost and an unforgettable customer experience needs to be created. Once the journey of a particular link or content has started on the Internet, it can be spread wide and processed (e.g. via blogs, social networks, geo- social networks, email, social bookmarking, podcasts, tweets, wikis , etc.). Ultimately, this viral effect has to generate the targets attention to the brand and persuade the users to become consumers. The content must have great viral potential to be shared and recommended.

The success ingredients for this are self-irony and wit that conveys the key message short and memorable. A successful holistic marketing strategy, however, is not only a strong online presence, but also the involvement of the customer experience in the offline sector, such as: in store, employee training and product development. Brand Value is defined by experiences with products and services, through the subjective perception that people have of a brand and therefore how much perception and expectation are covered. This should be reached with the different online and offline channels. A sustainable user experience creation should be kept in mind for all strategies in the future.

Content on its own is not enoughHowever, the mere presence in the various online channels is still no guarantee for success. Although content that is obviously offered by companies is, more than ever accepted by consumers, the desired attention will not come by itself. The first step is the creation of content, which also appeals to the target audience and encourages them to share it through various channels. The goal is not primarily to get more fans to generate more Likes or shares, but conversions. The second step therefore should be comprehensible tracking system that makes the different channels and the content analyzable. Step number three is then not to lose track and integrate a reliable brand content management system.

On the other hand outstanding customer touch-point experiences such as content exploration tools (e.g. zoom, 3D), content delivery (e.g. to social networks), content transformation (for different devices and different countries / languages).

Besides that, it needs seamlessly connected information systems. PIM, CRM, ERP, commerce, social web and various other systems should be linked with each other with the possibility of exchange existing software vendors quickly when needed.

There are already software solutions that combine all of these resources and facilitate the creation, distribution, analysis and archiving of brand content. When selecting suitable software for the efficient management of rich content for creative or marketing teams (Digital Asset Management), for multi-dimensional multimedia product content (Product Media Management), structured and unstructured product data (Product Information Management) or the management of Brand Content in all social networks (Social Media Content Management) it is particularly important to ensure a user-friendly interface and the ability to integrate in-house IT.

Finally, the acquisition of such software is to save time and resources and not to increase costs. Professional Digital Asset, Content Management and Product Information Management software is not only in large companies an advantage, but can also help medium-sized and small businesses to work in a more productive way. With solutions, such as the celum and Riversand Technologies software, all the data is easily available for distribution to customer touch-points. A holistic approach on creative, technical and systemic level leads to the maximum possible content management success and the desired ROI.